A US government employee has apologized for her “tragic mistake” that resulted in the death of Harry Dunn while she was absent from her investigation.
In a voluntary interview with police two months after the fatal 2019 crash, which was read out in court on Wednesday, Anne Sacoolas insisted she was a “safe driver.”
The inquest heard that when asked what she believed caused the collision, she told Northamptonshire Police officers: “I drove like an American and I drove on the American side of the road.”
Sacoolas said in a witness statement that the crash that killed the teenage motorcyclist in August 2019 is something she will live with “every day for the rest of my life.”
Responding to statements given by Sacoolas to the court, Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger told the PA news agency: “We have heard most of that before.
“Why the hell is Sacoolas not in court to answer questions from the court and the family?”
The US State Department asserted diplomatic immunity on Sacoolas’ behalf and she was allowed to leave the UK 19 days after the fatal collision.
He appeared before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey via video link in December 2022, where he pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
Sacoolas was advised by his employer not to attend the sentencing hearing, prompting the family to say they were “horrified” that the United States government was “actively interfering in our criminal justice system.”
Judge Cheema-Grubb handed him an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
In one of his witness statements, Sacoolas said he “instinctively moved to the right side of the road” and did not realize he was on the wrong side of the road “until after the collision.”
A statement from his US lawyers in September 2020 said Sacoolas had been driving on the wrong side of the road for 20 seconds before colliding with Dunn outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
She told the inquest that she “hysterically called a motorist” after the crash and “begged him to get help.”
The 45-year-old said she had not received any training on driving on UK roads after arriving in the country.
Sacoolas, who gave details of his employment to police as an analyst for the US State Department, declined the coroner’s invitation to give live testimony to the inquest.
His lawyer, Ben Cooper KC, previously told the court he had “provided everything he could to assist in this investigation” and offered to “answer any additional questions.”
In one of his two witness statements, which was not prepared until Wednesday, Sacoolas said: “Immediately after the accident, I hysterically called a female motorist and begged her to get help.
“While she was calling 999, I called my husband to contact the base for help, because we were very close to the base entrance. The base was the first to respond.”
She continued: “When I left Croughton Air Force Base and turned left, I instinctively moved to the right side of the road.
“I knew the correct side of the road to drive on was the left side, not the right side like I was used to driving in the United States.
“My action was based on instinct and not remembering at the time that I should have been driving the other way.”
Concluding his most recent statement, Sacoolas said: “I am deeply sorry for causing this accident.
“I made a tragic mistake that I will live with every day for the rest of my life.
“Not a day goes by that Harry is not on my mind and I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused.”
The investigation, which will conclude Thursday, continues.
